thinks

David Armano thinks 2008 will be the year of the mobile internet. I completely agree. The way consumers interact with the web is changing dramatically, even though most customers don’t realize it themselves. Worse, most businesses don’t either. The mobile web looks like the PC-based web did in 1998-1999, with business and consumer benefits set to explode. Improved devices and networks (iPhone/Android), increased options and flexibility (Verizon’s bring your own device), interesting applications and interactions (Twitter/Pownce/Safari). All very cool.

So how do marketers get onboard?

1. Understand that your customers have mobile devices and are starting to use them
2. Learn what mobile services matter to your customers - primarily search, email, voice
3. Cover the basics - make sure your site can be found, browsed and contacted via mobile. It doesn’t require huge IT investment to make sure your site scans on mobile devices.
4. Explore the fringes - Set up a twitter account and encourage your customers to follow you or offer SMS contacts

This “core and explore” method is the best way to ensure that once your customers go mobile, you can find them, reach them, and help them without driving yourself crazy.

The numbers projected for mobile search - critical to local marketers - are staggering. One estimate projects local companies will spend $5 billion (US) in 2008, while another estimates 55 million local search users by 2011. In either case, the implications are clear for local marketers. Consumers are making use of this technology to find what they need, regardless of device or location. When you consider the low conversion rates for most websites, despite years of best practice research, companies need to think both about their customers who will purchase online and those that won’t. How effective is your business at driving sales online and offline? And how much are you thinking about it?

What’s it going to take for the mobile web to catch on? Om Malik gives a view of the underlying business of mobile data vs. the mobile web. Well worth the read. He’s certainly right in talking about the adoption of mobile broadband cards. I practically sleep with mine these days. But I think the phone will improve, too. As many of Om’s comments note, the iPhone changes the experience dramatically. Additionally, they’re easier to tote, cost less, and far more common. Once screens adopt more iPhone-like capabilities and networks improve - and Verizon’s recent “bring your own device” plan is a step towards that - expect consumer adoption to grow.

Is the picture of the mobile, local web (the backyard web) beginning to take shape? With over 3 billion mobile phones in consumers’ hands and with increasing access to valuable mobile services, like Google’s new geolocation services, it seems likely consumers will start expecting tools like these. How ready is your business to have your customers find you via their mobile?

Right after yesterday’s post about the forces holding mobile growth in check comes news from Clickz discussing CBS Mobile adding search to its mobile sites. The article cites comScore data that puts news and sports among the top 5 reasons mobile consumers use the web on their phones. Interestingly, mobile search comes in at number 6, just one percentage point behind sports.

Clickz is referring this to the shot heard round the world. To me, to quote Bogey it looks, “Like the start of a beautiful friendship.” Whether this becomes the magic bullet, or whether ultimately represents only the needs of early adopters is difficult to say. Over time, though, it should drive both expectations and behaviors among consumers. How ready are you to meet them?

I’ve said for some time that the networks provided by mobile phone companies in this country limit the utility - and ultimate expansion - of the mobile web. Walt Mossberg provides an alternative point of view, arguing that the real problem is the carriers and their archaic business models. Clearly, he’s on to something. Mossberg makes a compelling argument for freeing mobile phones from the current system, and an even more compelling argument that the outcome will represent a watershed event, much as Compaq’s first PC clone did for the desktop computer industry.

Still, local businesses should recognize that the current model also encourages increased phone use. Cingular/AT&T (or whatever you want to call them) notes in their annual report “Wireless revenue growth is driven by increased penetration of the mass market and by more demand for wireless access to e-mail and the Internet, along with the ever-increasing popularity of downloadable games, ringtones, instant messaging and video.”

While Mossberg is right that the current model limits innovation and artificially inhibits demand for wireless internet, customers are making use of it. Are you prepared for when they do?